Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 73,020 Franklin Resources, Inc. $BEN

Key Points

• Man Group acquired 73,020 shares of Franklin Resources in the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.43 million. Other institutional investors also initiated or increased positions, with institutions collectively owning 47.56% of the company.
• Franklin Resources reported quarterly EPS of $0.72, beating estimates of $0.66, while revenue rose 14.3% year over year to $2.36 billion. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a target price of $32.44.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share, equivalent to $1.32 annually and a 4.0% yield; the dividend payout ratio is 89.8%.

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 73,020 shares of the closed-end fund's stock, valued at approximately $2,429,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,418,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Franklin Resources during the first quarter worth $6,254,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Franklin Resources during the second quarter worth $37,742,000. Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin Resources in the first quarter valued at $1,580,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Franklin Resources by 23.8% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 335,261 shares of the closed-end fund's stock valued at $7,919,000 after purchasing an additional 64,483 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BEN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Franklin Resources from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Franklin Resources from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Franklin Resources from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Evercore reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Franklin Resources in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Franklin Resources from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin Resources has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.44.

Franklin Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:BEN opened at $33.09 on Wednesday. Franklin Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $36.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $33.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.08.

Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The closed-end fund reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Franklin Resources had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm's revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Franklin Resources, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.80%.

Franklin Resources Profile

Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.

Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.

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